SC hints at stern action against 'influential people' in missing persons case.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) on Friday remarked that action had to be taken against 'influential people' in the missing persons case.

The apex court, while hearing the plea for the recovery of Mehreen Baloch's daughters who had been missing for five years, ordered the Sindh police to recover them within a month. The Sindh chief secretary said it was a failure of police and told the court that a high-level probe was going on to produce the girls, adding that the joint investigation team (JIT) constituted to investigate had officers from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Atta Bandial remarked that influential persons not only connived in the abduction of girls but also protected the suspects. 'As the court intends to strengthen the state institutions, it did not take a suo motu notice of the incident,' he remarked. The court would, he said, protect the basic rights [of citizens], and the state institutions...